Cosmetic dental manufacturer DenMat, a fixture in Santa Maria since 1974 and one
of the city’s largest private employers, appears to be on the verge of leaving town—likely to Lompoc.
Internal e-mails from DenMat CEO Steve Semmelmayer to employees reveal the company is in the process of introducing new product lines, necessitating a move to a larger building.
“In view of the upcoming expiration of our current leases, and our growth strategy for the Company, we are evaluating moving Company operations into a more modern facility,” Semmelmayer told DenMat employees in a March 21 e-mail. “We have not signed a new lease and presently are in negotiations with the landlord at a building in Lompoc. If we were to move our operations, we anticipate a well-organized phased process that would take place over a period of 3 to 9 months.”
A subsequent e-mail from DenMat Human Resources Specialist Queta Rodriguez states the company has conducted a survey of employees to “make a possible move out of Santa Maria as easy and comfortable as possible,” although nothing is definitive and the company continues to consider options locally.
Calls to Semmelmayer and DenMat’s Chief Administrative Officer Todd Tiberi weren’t returned as of press time.
Santa Maria’s loss could be Lompoc’s gain. DenMat, maker of porcelain veneers Lumineers, Snap-On Smile, and LumiTray distributes its teeth-whitening products worldwide. The company employs nearly 400 people at its Santa Maria headquarters on Skyway Drive, making it the fourth-largest private employer in the city behind C & D Zodiac Aerospace, Betteravia Farms, and Fusion Contact Centers, according to the Santa Maria Economic Development Commission.
“We wish they wouldn’t [move],” City Council member Alice Patino said. “Maybe we can do something that will help them to stay in Santa Maria. They need a really large building, and ramps also. I don’t know that we have anything here that will really suit their needs.”
Patino said DenMat management didn’t come to the city to ask for assistance in finding a new building before looking elsewhere, but added the city’s Economic Development Commission is working to help the company find a suitable location in Santa Maria.
“Especially in these times, when it’s pretty challenging, I think we have to be pretty creative in how we do things,” she said. “We’re going to try to do everything we can to keep them here.”
Santa Maria Economic Development Commission Director Dave Cross didn’t return calls from the Sun for comment. The Lompoc Chamber of Commerce also didn’t respond to calls.
In November 2011, private equity firms Centre Partners and Los Angeles-based Mill Street Partners acquired DenMat from DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, and Mill Street founders Semmelmeyer, Tiberi and Robert Cartagena took over company operations. Then in January, DenMat acquired a portfolio of dental products from Royal Philips Electronics, parent company of Discus Dental, requiring the company to expand its base of operations.
“DenMat now owns or has exclusive licenses covering more than 1,000 patents,” DenMat marketing director Steve Hulan told the Sun in January. “The vision for this firm is to establish a platform as one of the leading direct marketing providers of clinical products to dentists.”
DenMat’s founder, Santa Maria dentist Robert Ibsen, resigned from the company in 2008 after selling the business to New York City-based DLJ in December 2007. Though he has no connection to DenMat’s current management, Ibsen still owns the buildings at 2727 and 2850 Skyway Drive, which have housed the company’s headquarters since the mid-1990s. DenMat’s lease on the larger of the two buildings expires in December, and Ibsen confirmed the company has made no overtures to renew it.
“I’d hate to see them leave,” Ibsen said. “But apparently the current management wants to move somewhere else, and they found a building they said suited their needs better. We’d
like them to stay, but we don’t have any control over that.
“Every management looks at things a little different than the former management,” he added. “We have great relations with them and they’re competent people. They’re probably going to do a good job for the company.”
DenMat’s lab produced Rembrandt teeth-whitening toothpaste before the product line was sold to Gillette in 2004. When Ibsen sold the company, DenMat boasted more than 700 employees.
The now-retired Ibsen said several other companies have already expressed interest in moving into the facilities—a combined 150,000 square-feet of space—but wouldn’t provide any further details.
“We’re in the process of having them leased, and we’ll disclose that later,” Ibsen said. “I think there would be new people leasing that would employ the same number or more employees than they currently have.”
Contact Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 12-19, 2012.